LIVERPOOL'S Culture Company was suffering "structural problems" and the city council was becoming "impatient" with its plans for 08, former artistic director Robyn Archer claimed yesterday.

Speaking at the British Arts Festival Association's annual conference, Ms Archer gave a 45-minute talk entitled Putting The Arts In Their Place.

Upon her departure from Liverpool, the artist cited personal reasons, namely her elderly mother who was in ill health, for her decision to leave the job.

But yesterday she outlined "structural problems" with the Culture Company, complained about early morning meetings, and spoke of what she perceived as the council's "growing impatience" with her.

She said, however, that she was sad to leave the "fantastic" city and wished Merseysiders the best for their special year.

During a question-and-answer session which followed her speech yesterday, a delegate asked: "Ms Archer, could you please put us out of our misery and tell us what went wrong in Liverpool?"

She replied: "What I told the papers at the time was true. I am an only child and my 82-year-old mother was sick. I needed to spend more time with Mum.

"But Liverpool also had some structural problems which I hope they have now sorted out.

"The people who appointed me were no longer there by April, and there was a feeling of growing impatience in the council.

"Only four out of 60 such events (large-scale festivals such as Capital of Culture) have been delivered directly out of a council and there are problems with that because there's no arm's length distance which means the council can become less efficient.

"Also, the bureaucracy of a council does not necessarily provide the right structure by which to deliver a festival of that scale.

"The Culture Company was set up to counter that, but all that basically is is another part of the council, so the CEO of the Culture Company is the CEO of nothing. There were bureaucratic problems such as automated out-of-office email replies that were only sent back to emails that were received from internal addresses. That meant that, if an arts group from Thailand needed an urgent response, they just assumed you had the email rather than being told you were out of the office.

"There was also a management style that required meetings to be held at 7am and for a diva like me that takes a bit of getting used to - but, saying that, I am a people person and I do work well at that time in the morning."

While in the prestigious Liverpool job she came under fire for booking high-art performances and dance troupes that failed to garner public interest.

But Ms Archer, who last year published a pamphlet called The Myth of the Mainstream, stressed that successful festivals needed a balance between high art and popular events which are more likely to draw in the crowds.

Addressing delegates at the conference hosted by Cardiff 's multi-million pound Wales Millennium Centre, Ms Archer said: "In Glasgow during the Capital of Culture celebrations, audiences were inclined to stay away from many of the arts events but flocked to those that had a community hook.

"However, it is possible to reach the people without dumbing down.

"I like all sorts of art and I was back to my room for 9pm last night to watch Ladette to Lady, I love it.

"I was raised in popular culture rather than high art, my father was a stand-up comic and singer.

"And I was on television contests as a child, some of which I won.

"But when it comes to the arts, I never played Harry to my Falstaff.

"I believe very much in bridges between popular culture and high art but the bridge will be stronger if the metal of the arch is not weakened."

During the main speech at yesterday's conference, attended by representatives from arts festivals around the UK, Ms Archer defended some of her decisions to book certain acts for Liverpool Performs 2006 which was used as a trial run for the big festival in two years' time.

One of the acts attacked by critics was Super Vision. The multi-media theatre show co-commissioned by the Culture Company and created by New York's Builders Association was about surveillance in contemporary society.

But when it was performed at the Royal Court, the show, billed as one of Liverpool's cultural highlights for this year, flopped after selling only 600 tickets over the course of its three-day run.

Ms Archer yesterday praised the show and pointed out that it went on to gain four and five-star reviews when it went on to play Glasgow.

It is thought that some of the acts provisionally booked by Ms Archer for 2008 will now be axed.

Ms Archer also spoke about the importance of a curator being allowed to get on with their job without pressure from the organisation in charge and used a cooking simile to explain how a great festival comes about.

She said: "Producing a festival is like Asian cooking.

"As a festival curator, you need to have a good organisation behind you that will let you discover the finest ingredients from around the world.

"But the actual cooking doesn't take that long once everything is in place."

She added: "Robust and rigorous lateral thinking will always produce the goods. Impatience with the curatorial process results in a half-baked product."

But despite any problems she may have encountered with the Culture Company, the artist stressed that she had a strong affinity with Liverpool and enjoyed working in the city.

She said: "The unique nature of Liverpool is its strength.

"It has a wealth of popular music, the visual arts, particularly the football and it has a fabulous cheekiness.

"We have an intimate relationship to our environment.

"Each festival is inextricably bound to its origin. But the inspiration of that which we don't know is as important as the familiar and none of the ideas from elsewhere should simply be

imposed on the place." The arts supremo was paid #150,000-a-year to direct Liverpool's 2008 celebrations, but yesterday she revealed that when she first started she was still responsible for working on the Melbourne International Arts Festival as well as the 10 Days On The Island, a festival in Tasmania.

When she held the post in Liverpool, she was heavily criticised for rarely being present in the city, instead travelling abroad to source talent for shows.

In August, the Daily Post revealed that, during her two-year tenure, Ms Archer spent less than four months in Liverpool in total.

She totted up a total of 97 working days in Liverpool, which works out as an estimated #2,300 for every day she was based here.

At the time, the Culture Company supported her, saying that as artistic director of a European event she was obliged to travel the world making contacts and securing events and performers.

During her speech yesterday, she hinted that the financial backing simply was not there to bring her ideas for Liverpool into reality, saying: "The essence of a great festival is excess, excess is surely the definition of any festival experience.

"But there is never enough money to do that properly."

Since leaving her position in Liverpool, Ms Archer has returned to singing and has been booked to perform at a private function in London in January.

The former artistic director has also been tipped as a possible contender for the next governor of South Australia.

But Ms Archer said: "I'm happy just sliding about at the moment and I'm happy to enjoy my first break for more than 15 years."

Chief executive of Royal Liverpool Philharmonic takes on part-time role as cultural adviser to help with planning for 2008 >>>

Chief executive of Royal Liverpool Philharmonic takes on part-time role as cultural adviser to help with planning for 2008>

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LIVERPOOL'S Culture Company has appointed a part-time cultural adviser to help drive forward plans for 2008.

Michael Elliott is to join the Culture Company on a part-time secondment from the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic, where he has been chief executive since 2001.

He will take up his role on November 7.

Mr Elliott will work with the Culture Company chief executive, Jason Harborow, and the creative team to advise on the Culture Company's planning and its relationship with the cultural organisations in Liverpool

He will also work closely with Mr Harborow in assessing the artistic and cultural structure required to manage the future development of the 2008 programme, its communication and delivery.

Mr Elliott is a former chief executive of the Heart of England Tourist Board and from 1989 until 1996, he was Chief Executive of West Midlands Arts, the regional arts board for the West Midlands. He has advised successive governments on cultural policy and the creation of national and regional structures in both arts and tourism.

He said: "I am delighted to have been invited to assist the Liverpool Culture Company by providing advice and support to Jason Harborow and his team. I look forward to playing a key role in the planning for 2008 and in supporting the relationships with key stakeholders in the City and nationally, as we prepare to deliver a successful year as European Capital of Culture in 2008."

Meanwhile, after discussions with the city council, the Culture Company board is to be reduced to 14 directors, including three from the council, and the new board will meet quarterly.

There will also be a small operational board, replacing the current executive group, which will meet approximately every six weeks to drive the Company's activities forward.

An advisory group is being established to create a wider stakeholder group and this will meet twice a year.

Professor Drummond Bone, chairman of the Liverpool Culture Company, said: "The appointment of Michael together with the structural changes that the executive group have set out will provide a renewed focus for our strategic direction as we move ever closer to 2008. The new board structure will allow for more efficient decisionmaking processes while at the same time ensuring that the Culture Company taps into the experience and expertise of as wide a group of people as possible."

Proposed personnel changes to the existing board will be considered at the next meeting of the Culture Company board, on November 29.